Towel holder



F. R. KOONSI AND F. FISHER.

TOWEL HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.23. 1920.

Patented Oct. 3, 1922.

ILASLUJLQ All .7 a. .11 7

INVENTOR ATTORN EY Patented Get. 3, 1922.

sTAi s PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK R. KOONS AND BEAN K L. FISHER, 0F AVILLA, INDIANA.

TOWEL HoLIJEJa.

Application filed August 23, 1920.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANK R. KooNs and FRANK L. FISHER, citizens of theUnited States of America, residing at Avilla, in the count-y of Nobleand State of Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in TowelHolders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to holders for towels and the like and has forits object the provision of a novel holder adapted to be secured uponthe wall or other location and into which a towel in folded condition isadapted to be inserted, an automatic grip being provided whereby to holdthe towel against displacement.

An additional object is the provision of a device of this characterwhich will be simple and inexpensive in manufacture, easy to use, highlyeiiicient, durable in service, and a general improvement in the art.

lVith the above and other objects and advantages in View, the inventionconsists in the details of construction to be hereinafter more fullydescribed and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings inwhich Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device in use, and

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view therethrough.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 10 designatesthe body of the device which is formed as an elongated block which hasits ends preferably beveled, as indicated at 11. The block may be formedof any suitable material such as wood and is preferably painted orotherwise ornamented whereby to have a pleasing appearance. The block isprovided with two or more transverse holes 12 for the reception ofsecuring members such as screws 13 or the like whereby the device may besecured upon the wall or other location. I

The body is longitudinally bifurcated 111 a plane parallel with itsback, as indicated at 14, to define a slot within which a folded towelor other similar article is adapted for insertion. This bifurcationdefines a tongue 15 which extends in spaced relation to the back portionof the body and it is preferable that the lower edge of this tongue berounded, as shown at 16.

In order to provide means for positively Serial No. 405,241.

holding a towel or the like within the device, the back portion isformed with an inclined passage, preferably in cross section whichinclines upwardly toward the back, as clearly shown, and located withinthis passage 17 1s a ball 18 which is prevented from coming out of thepassage by a transverse nail 19 or the like driven into the backporlIlOIl of the body. Under ordinary conditions, that 1s when thedevice is empty, this ball engages against the inner face of the tongueand this inner face is preferably serrated or roughened, as indicated at20:

In the use of the device the folded towel or other article is insertedupwardly into the bifurcation 14, whereupon the ball 18 Wlll be unseatedand will ride upwardly along the passage 17 until the towel is at theupper end of the bifurcation. When the operator releases his hold uponthe towel this weight will cause the ball to descend to the lower end ofthe passage in gripping engagement with the towel. It will be observedthat the serrations on the inner face of the tongue assist in holdingthe towel frictionally in position.

From the foregoing description and a study of the drawings it will beapparent that we have thus provided a very simply constructed andconsequently inexpensive towel holder which may be used in a greatvariety of places, which will automatically grip a folded towel or otherarticle engaged therein, and which will in every way efficiently performthe functions for which it is intended.

While we have shown and described the preferred embodiment of ourinvention, it is of course to be understood that we reserve the right tomake such changes in the form, construction, and arrangement of parts aswill not depart from the spirit of the invention or the scope of thesubjoined claim.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

A device of the character described comprising an elongated bodyprovided with an upwardly extending bifurcation defining a tongue, theportion of the body between the bifurcation and the back wall beingformed with a passage inclining upwardly toward and extending throughthe back wall, a ball within said passage adapted to engage a towel orthe like inserted within the bifurcation, a transverse pin inclinedupwardly whereby to define a more or less flaring entrance to thebifurcation for facilitating the insertion of a towel or the likethereinto.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

FRANK R. KOONS. FRANK L. FISHER.

